Dubai Women’s College launches the first Mental Toughness Center for Education in the Middle East

Dubai Women's College (DWC), a Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) flagship institution, launched today the first Mental Toughness Center for Education  in the Middle East. 

The fundamental aim of DWC Mental Toughness Center for Education is to facilitate the dissemination of information about Mental Toughness and its applications to the educational sector; particularly relating to the role of Mental Toughness assessment and development in enhancing students experience and in maximizing the outcome for students as they pass through formal education from secondary to higher education; ultimately supporting increased student success within the educational setting in the UAE and GCC. 

The Center will also facilitate the dissemination of information about Mental Toughness in terms of how assessment and development is able to support students with their personal development such that they are well prepared for life after completion of their formal education; ultimately leading to increased student success in the employment setting within the UAE in particular and the GCC in general. 

Dr. Howard Reed, Director of DWC, said that students in the Middle East tend to lack experiences that help them understand the world of work or themselves, yet they are being educated to enter the workforce.  “We at Dubai Women's College are excited by the potential that Mental Toughness has in helping young people learn more about themselves and change.  We are proud to share this tool and our enthusiasm with a broader community in hopes of improving the success of young people in the region," he said.

The DWC Mental Toughness Center for Education will provide training opportunities to professionals within the educational sector as relating to Mental Toughness assessment and development; as well as other workshops centering on fostering student success. 

Dr. Peter Clough emphasized that there is strong evidence that Mental Toughness is positively correlated with academic performance, educational attainment levels and Career aspirations. It has also been associated with positive classroom behavior and decreased reporting of bullying. “Another hypothesis currently being examined is that student performance is associated with the Mental Toughness of the teacher/tutor and/or parents,” he added. 

Dr. Peter Clough, from the University of Hull and the developer of the 4 C model of Mental Toughness, said that in further Education, research indicates that Mental Toughness reduces the likelihood of an individual dropping out; “So Mental Toughness is very good at predicting which students are at risk, allowing for timely identification and appropriate intervention,” he said. 

DWC Mental Toughness Center for Education will also facilitate regional access to high quality Psychometric tools including the MTQ48; a tool which reliably and validly measures Mental Toughness to allow for accurate assessment and subsequently informed development strategies. 

Doug Strycharczyk, director of AQR, commented that the MTQ48 measure and mental toughness concept has been introduced successfully to more than 40 countries since its launch in 2003. “What has excited us is the impact that understanding mental toughness can make in the development of young people - performance, wellbeing, employability, etc. We are delighted to be working with DWC who are committed to adopting a professional evidence based approach to applying the concept in the UAE/Gulf setting. This will enable us jointly to ensure that this concept delivers all the benefits it can for young persons and for the institutions which are committed to developing young people." 

Moreover, the DWC Mental Toughness Center will co-ordinate and facilitate research into Mental Toughness and its role in the educational sector within the UAE and GCC, which will ultimately increase the available scientific body of knowledge on how to holistically develop students within the prevailing sociocultural context such that they emerge as fully functioning and contributing members of society. 

 The latest research by Dr Peter Clough indicates that there are 4 key components which together determine a person’s overall level of Mental Toughness: Control, Challenge, Commitment and Confidence. “Thus, an individual’s overall Mental Toughness is dependent on his/her tendencies in each of these four areas,” he said. 

Mental Toughness is the quality which determines in some part how people deal with challenge, stressors and pressure. There is a very strong link between Mental Toughness and issues such as Stress Management and Peak Performance Development and behavior. These are all interrelated. 

 “Mental Toughness is the quality which determines, in large part, how we respond to stress, pressure and challenge, irrespective of prevailing circumstances,” Dr. Peter Clough concluded.